Japan marks 69th anniversary of Hiroshima bombing

Updated on August 6, 2014 1:25 pm

Japan marked the 69th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Wednesday, as Mayor Kazumi Matsui called on U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders to visit the city to see the scars of the atomic bombing first hand.

Children prepare to offer flowers to the atomic bomb victims during a ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan. (Source: AP)

About 45,000 people stood for a minute of silence at the ceremony in Hiroshima's peace park near the epicenter of the 1945 attack that killed up to 140,000 people. A second bombing, over Nagasaki three days later, killed another 70,000, prompting Japan's surrender in World War II.

People wait in queue to offer prayers for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing, in the rain at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, in this photo taken by Kyodo August 6, 2014, on the 69th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing. (Source: Reuters/Kyodo)

The anniversary comes as Japan is divided over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent Cabinet decision to allow the country's military to defend foreign countries and play greater roles overseas. To achieve the goal, Abe's Cabinet revised its interpretation of the country's war-renouncing constitution, making it even more controversial.

Abe, among dignitaries attending the event, said that as the sole country to have suffered nuclear attacks, Japan has the duty to seek to eliminate nuclear weapons. But he did not mention his push for a more assertive defense posture.

People pray for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing, in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, in this photo taken by Kyodo August 6, 2014, on the 69th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing on the city. (Source: Reuters/Kyodo)

Attendants this year included U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and representatives from 67 other countries, including Britain, France and Russia.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy arrives at the ceremony to mark the 69th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing, at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, in this photo taken by Kyodo August 6, 2014.
(Source: Reuters)

(File Photo) In this Aug. 6, 1945 file photo, the "Enola Gay" Boeing B-29 Superfortress lands at Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands after the U.S. atomic bombing mission against the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Tom VanKirk says his 93-year-old father, the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew, died in Stone Mountain, Ga. on Monday, July 28, 2014. (Source: AP)

(File Photo) In this Aug. 6, 1945 file photo made available by the U.S. Army, the crew of the Enola Gay is debriefed in Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands after returning from their atomic bombing mission over Hiroshima, Japan. At foreground left, seated at the corner of the table, is Capt. Theodore VanKirk, navigator. Tom VanKirk says his 93-year-old father, the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew, died at the retirement home where he lived in Georgia on Monday, July 28, 2014. (Source: AP)